CFHS code : PL463 or PL12
Parish : St Paul
Inscription : In Loving Memory of ROBERT DEARSLEY d Feb 26 1910 aged 51 MARY DEARSLEY d Feb 24 1923 aged 63
Monument : Headstone (fallen)/Kerb stones (broken)
Above information amended from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
Inscription
Robert Freeman Dearsley (1858 – 26 February 1910)
Robert was born in Cherry Hinton and married Mary in 1878. He was a shoemaker when they married but by 1885 was a dairyman/milkman. Robert and Mary had three children: Richard Charles (1884-1940), Dinah Ethel (1887-1957) and May Elizabeth (1889-1960). They lived at 19 Doric Street (1881) and Thoday Street (at least 1894 onwards). In September 1894 Robert was taken to court for ‘selling a quantity of milk which was not of the required standard’. Mr Taylor, Inspector of Nuisances had bought the milk and when he had had it analyse, found it contained 18% of added water. Robert said in defence that it had been raining hard, and some of the rain could have got into the milk. The analyst who had declared there was 18% water, gave evidence that the poor condition of the cows might have added to the weakened milk. Edmund Hardy who helped Robert to milk, testified that he could ‘say positively no water was added’. The magistrates dismissed the charge ‘on the ground that it was not proved beyond doubt’. In March 1905 Robert was one of seventeen dog owners summonsed for keeping a dog without a license, and he was fined 7s and 6d. He died at Thoday aged 51 years old and his funeral took place on 3 March.
Mary Dearsley (née Wallace) (1860 – 24 February 1923)
Mary was born in Little Thurlow, a village to the north of Haverhill and was the daughter of farm labourerThomas and Sarah (NB their surname was also sometimes spelt Wallis). In 1911 she was living at 63 Thoday Street with her two daughters and an adopted daughter – 5 years old Marie Crofton. Mary died at home aged 63 years old.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Parish burial records transcribed by CFHS
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]